Big win for BJP in Maharashtra civic body elections; Shiv Sena, Congress thrashed badly

The BJP in Maharashtra on Friday trounced the Shiv Sena in the Jalgaon civic body polls, winning 57 of the 75 seats, and came up trumps in the Sangli municipal elections, bagging 41 out of the 78 seats.

The BJP in Maharashtra on Friday trounced the Shiv Sena in the Jalgaon civic body polls, winning 57 of the 75 seats, and came up trumps in the Sangli municipal elections, bagging 41 out of the 78 seats.

BJP workers offer sweets to each other in Mumbai after the party won civic body elections in Jalgaon and Sangli. (ANI/Twitter)

Local strongman and Shiv Sena leader Suresh Jain’s Khandesh Vikas Agadhi (KVA), which ruled Jalgaon Municipal Corporation for several years, won only 13 seats. The KVA, a local outfit which contested the election on the Shiv Sena symbol this time, had 36 seats in the JMC.

The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) bagged three seats, while Independents won two seats. The NCP, which had 11 corporators in the civic body, drew a blank. The Congress in Jalgaon failed to open its account for the second consecutive time.

The BJP also posted an impressive victory in the Sangli-Miraj-Kupwad Municipal Corporation, winning 41 seats in the 78-member House and ousting the Congress from power. The Congress, the current ruling party in the civic body in western Maharashtra, won only 20 seats, while its ally NCP got 15. Others won two seats.